Evaluation

We were set the task of creating a front cover, double page spread and contents page for a music magazine of a genre of our choice. For my magazine I decided to go with an R&B / Hip Hop genre as that is the kind of music I like the most. First of all we had to research music magazines of our chosen genre to get some background knowledge of the codes and conventions to apply them in our own production. We then had to draft our ideas on paper of roughly what we wanted on all 3 parts of the magazine. We then worked from these to create our final productions.

My media product uses the same conventions as a typical music magazine of the R&B / Hip Hop genre as there isn’t too many images on either of the pages so that the focus is on the main image. This also stops the pages looking too cluttered and over-done, as this type of magazine generically doesn’t have too much covering the pages. I have also used three main colours throughout to create a recognisable “house style” that sets the magazine apart from others and gives it an individual look. As well as using colour to create a house style, I tried not to change the layout too much throughout all the pages. Finally I have mentioned current artists and bands relating to the genre of the magazine as well as the target audience. This ensures that the target audience are being catered for to keep them interested in the magazine. However, I have also challenged some conventions to make the magazine my own. I have done this by minimising the quantity of straplines to make the front cover look classier and tried to maintain the minimalist theme throughout.

My magazine represents young “cultural” girls as these are the types of people on the front cover. Both of them are young themselves and represent people likely to buy the magazine. It is also similar to the type of target audience that I wanted as I tried to make it appeal to teenage girls interested in urban music through use of colour, imagery and text. This is because the names of famous people mentioned would appeal to girls more than boys and everyone mentioned on the three pages are current, young stars meaning its more likely that a 16 year old girl will know about it rather than a 50 year old man. My magazine would be sold in newsagents that sell a wide range of magazines for different types of people and large supermarkets. The font of the text looks quite feminine also as its thin and has a serif.

For my research, I bought a copy of “hip hop weekly” so that I could analyse things like font styles, sizes and images used. This way I could try and create the same sort of realism with my own magazine. I also searched on the internet for R&B and hip hop magazine front covers that I could use as inspiration. I then analysed some of the magazine images that I found, de constructing the codes and conventions so that I could re construct some for my own magazine pages.

I decided to create a duo called “Kitty Kat Girls” because I thought it went with the image of the group. I used two people that are the same height and similar builds so that it looks more realistic. I called the magazine soul because the artists mentioned and the music it represents are people that could be put into that category and it sounds simple and to the point. For the front cover I thought that they should both wear quite neutral colours (grey and white) so that the main colours for the front cover as a whole would stand out more (beige, yellow and black). I used the main colours because I think they look good together. I used 1 font throughout the front cover also to make it look more professional and neater. I put the mast head in capitals and stretched it across the top so that it stood out as the name of the magazine and through the image so that it can still be read. I think the imager that I used for the front cover is best suited for it out of all the images I took because I think the angle is quite interesting and its not too soft and sweet looking against the black background. Also, the fact that their heads aren’t central in the page makes it look more interesting and unusual.

For both the contents page and the double page spread I used pictures of them where they are wearing different clothes and sitting on the floor because I think it gives it more of a relaxed and personal feel. On the contents page I used the same serif font as the front cover so that it’s more obvious that it’s from the same magazine and I like the font itself. I also used the mast head from the front cover and made it smaller and put it at the top of the page to signify the magazine. I made the background white to brighten it up and make it look fresher. I used dark grey for the main font colour so that it stands out but doesn’t look as harsh as black and maintains the freshness. It also matches the dark grey of Yasmeen’s [model on the left] cardigan. I tried to make the text go round the image by shaping it round the image so that it can be read and frames the picture.

On the double page spread I used the most relaxed image of the three as it looks more natural because Bianca [model on the right] is grinning and it looks like they are just talking normally. I think it makes it look better and more personal as it’s an interview and connotes that the interview will be more relaxed and personal. I used black again so that the text would stand out and it would look. To match this I put a black tint over the image so that it didn’t look too bright next to it. I used the quotation “I feel like such a proud mama” because I think it makes the article sound interesting and would make people want to read it more to see what context it was said in. I put emphasis on the “proud mama” part by putting the capitals of the two words in upper case then make it bigger and on a separate line because it’s the most interesting part of the phrase and by being on two lines it doesn’t look too long and get in the way of the picture.

I haven’t learned much about using Photoshop because I already mostly knew how to use it from previous years creating other pieces of work. Compared to the preliminary task that I created beforehand, I have learned more about how to create the same conventions as in a generic music magazine and how to make images more interesting through using different angles and types of editing. Although I like my productions, if I could change it I would have taken more images changing the costume, make up, hair etc to see what differences it would make and see which ones look better and have a wider variety of pictures to work from.